Congress to start ground work for Bharat Jodo Yatra in Goa

Times of India | 9 hours ago | 17-05-2022 | 12:57 am

Panaji: With Congress president Sonia Gandhi calling for a ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the state Congress unit is expected to meet in the coming fortnight to begin the planning process for the nationwide exercise. The state Congress unit is also expected to take steps to strengthen the party at the state level. State Congress president Amit Patkar said that he has discussed various factors that could help strengthen the party at the grassroots level in preparation for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Goa. “A lot of things were discussed. Particularly about bringing the youth back into the Congress fold and to encourage them. Because, if the future of the youth has to be improved, then it is only Congress which can do this. All of us have given our opinions and suggestions on this issue,” Patkar said. Discussions were held with senior party leaders at the Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir in Udaipur, Rajasthan. “The yatra will be held first in the states that are going to elections such as Rajasthan, Karnataka and others state and after that it will be held in Goa. We will start out meetings in Goa in the coming week. Meanwhile, we will start preparations for the corner meetings, the ground work for the yatra,” opposition leader Michael Lobo said. He said that aside from the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, Congress will also work to rebuild the party. “The high command will also invite us to Delhi later to discuss ways to rebuild the party,” said Lobo. Interestingly, former chief minister and Margao MLA Digambar Naik , who is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), did not attend the Chintan Shivir. Former state party president Girish Chodankar also skipped the event.

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Scrap linear projs, withdraw cases against greens

Times of India | 6 days ago | 11-05-2022 | 12:57 am

Times of India

6 days ago | 11-05-2022 | 12:57 am

Panaji: Congress’s Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday reiterated the party’s demand that chief minister Pramod Sawant must take a cue from the Supreme Court’s verdict regarding the double-tracking project and scrap the three linear projects. Rao also demanded that all the criminal cases filed by the police against the activists should be withdrawn. “The Pramod Sawant government must act in the interest of Goa. Don’t wait for the courts to decide on issues which the executive must,” said Rao. “Congress demands that the three linear projects be scrapped and all cases foisted on the activists be withdrawn.” Several FIRs have been filed by the government against activists who were part of the ‘Save Mollem’ campaign. The campaign began as a protest against three massive infrastructure projects — highway expansion, double-tracking of a railway line, and a power transmission line — that cut across protected forests. The demand comes just a day after the Supreme Court cancelled the environment approvals granted to South Western Railway for the Castlerock-Kulem double-tracking project. Congress state president Amit Patkar said it reflects badly on the state when people are forced to approach the courts seeking justice against “an insensitive government that acts on behalf of crony capitalists” instead of the voters. Patkar said Goans need to be vigilant as BJP’s double-engine government is keen to implement “anti-Goa projects” due to pressure from Delhi. Green activist and former naval officer Viriato Fernandes claimed that the state and Centre pushed the three linear projects during the Covid-induced lockdown in order to facilitate coal transportation.

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Times of India | 1 week ago | 10-05-2022 | 12:57 am

Times of India

1 week ago | 10-05-2022 | 12:57 am

Panaji: With medical experts indicating that a fourth Covid-19 wave could hit the state in the coming month, Congress urged the state government to ramp up preparedness and begin taking precautions. The party has also demanded that the state government immediately disburse Rs 2 lakh to the families of Covid victims and Rs 5,000 to traditional business owners who suffered. Goa Youth Congress president Varad Mardolkar expressed concern about the slow but steady increase in cases and said that the government needs to be alert instead of letting its guard down. Dean of Goa Medical College, Shivanand Bandekar recently said that there was a possibility of the fourth wave surfacing in Goa soon. “People have lost their lives due to government mismanagement in the past. A question needs to be raised on the current preparedness and what have they done,” Mardolkar said. He said that while the Pramod Sawant-government could spent Rs 5.6 crore on the swearing ceremony, it failed to release Rs 4 lakh to the families of Covid-19 victims as assured under the National Disaster Management Act. Congress blamed the state government for not taking adequate precautions during the previous waves.

Quepems Cong MLA Altone DCosta favours plan for IIT Goa campus on home turf

Times of India | 1 week ago | 09-05-2022 | 04:26 am

Times of India

1 week ago | 09-05-2022 | 04:26 am

Panaji: In a surprising move from the opposition camp, Congress MLA Altone D’Costa said that he is happy to hear that the state government could set up the IIT Goa campus in Quepem. D’Costa said the IIT-Goa campus will be an “honour and an opportunity” for the constituents of Quepem. Nearly six years after the IIT Goa was established, the search for a site to house the institute’s permanent campus continues. TOI recently reported that after vociferous protests at Shel Melauli, the government has shortlisted four sites — on the Kulti plateau at Poinguinim in Canacona, an area at Sanguem, the land at Quitol, where the defence expo was held in Quepem, and another site at Dharbandora. “The government of Goa is considering Quepem as one of the options for IIT Campus. I believe it’s an honour and an opportunity for us to have this prestigious campus in our area. If the government is willing, we will be more than happy to shoulder the responsibility,” D’Costa said. Plans in at least seven locations, earlier identified by the state government, had to be scrapped, either due to shortcomings found by the site selection committee or objections from locals. D’Costa’s open support is significant because in January 2021, Congress had supported the protesters in Melauli-Guleli who had objected to the IIT campus. IIT-Goa is functioning from its temporary campus at the Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi, since 2016. As per central government norms, the state has to provide at least 500 acres of land for the IIT campus, but considering that Goa is a small state, it was agreed that 300 acres would be adequate.

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Times of India | 1 week ago | 08-05-2022 | 12:57 am

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1 week ago | 08-05-2022 | 12:57 am

Panaji: The Centre’s move to increase prices of domestic LPG cylinders prompted the state Congress president to take a dig at BJP and its supporters. The party said that the Rs 50 increase in gas prices is a gift from the Centre to voters who voted for BJP in the recently concluded assembly elections. State Congress president Amit Patkar said that the entire country is suffering the consequences of the division of votes. “Congratulations to the 33% Goans who voted for BJP,” Patkar said. Patkar immediately took to Twitter after oil and gas marketing companies announced a hike in cooking gas prices, the second increase in two months. The price hike comes days after the price of commercial LPG cylinders was increased by Rs102.5 earlier this month. The latest price hike of domestic gas cylinders has come at a time when petrol prices are already beyond the Rs100 per litre mark and when diesel prices are inching near to the century mark. Later in the day, Patkar met with Taleigao block leaders and party sympathisers to discuss ways to revive the party and ways to also take up people’s issues.

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Times of India | 1 week ago | 07-05-2022 | 02:13 pm

Times of India

1 week ago | 07-05-2022 | 02:13 pm

PANAJI: BJP may speak about a Congress-mukt Bharat, but it does not want the party to disappear completely, Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday, explaining that the country requires a healthy opposition, but it needs to pick up its act. Puri said that BJP is relatively confident of its victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as opposition parties, particularly Congress, have yet to get their act together. "We do not want Congress to atrophy or to completely disappear. We need an opposition," said Puri, speaking at the Times Network Leadership Summit at Goa Fest 2022. "But if we have an opposition, then the opposition has to decide whether it wants to be led by Rahul Gandhi or Mamata Banerjee or Arvind Kejriwal or Sharad Pawar." Given BJP's back-to-back victories in state assembly elections and the internal churn within Congress, which is seen as the principal opposition party, Puri was asked if his party considers the 2024 elections a "done deal". "In politics, nothing is a done deal. You should never be complacent, but considering that the party itself is in good shape, considering that we are winning one election after another, yes, I would say that the opposition needs to get its act together if it wants to post a credible challenge in 2024," he said. The Union minister took several digs at AAP, referring to the party as a political startup. Puri even suggested in jest that news channels should impose a form of tax or revenue on nascent political parties that are given prominent coverage. "People who don't pay you, like somebody starting a startup political system, and constantly featuring that individual or entity, they acquire oxygen. I would suggest you introduce a tax that if I (news channels) build you up then you (political parties) must, if they ever acquire the means of doing so, provide reciprocal support later. It's just a suggestion. You will be increasing your revenue," he said. Puri refuted suggestions that the Modi-government is focusing only on socialist schemes or the right-wing. He said the Centre's policies cater to every sector and segment in the country.

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